Speaking of Warner, as many of you know Amazon.com recently pulled pre-orders of BD and DVD release of Cloud Atlas, which had been listed on the retail site as coming on 2/5. The studio is sending out reminders to the press today reiterating once again that Cloud Atlas isn’t coming on 2/5 and that in fact the title has not yet been officially announced by the studio, just in case there was any lingering confusion. So put your plans on hold for the time being and we’ll post official details as they come in.

Meanwhile, Amazon is already taking pre-orders for the Blu-ray Combo and DVD release of Universal’s Les Misérables, directed by Tom Hooper (SRP $34.98 and $24.98). No street date or official announcement is available yet.

In other release news today, Anchor Bay and The Weinstein Company have just set Killing Them Softly for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 3/26 (SRP $39.99 and $29.98). The film stars Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Sam Shepard and more. Extras will include deleted scenes and The Making of Killing Them Softly featurette.

Music Box Films has set Any Day Now for Blu-ray and DVD release on 4/23.

Magnolia Home Entertainment will release John Dies at the End on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/2.

Flicker Alley will release Nanook of the North, The Wedding of Palo and other Films of Arctic Life on Blu-ray on 3/12.

Severin Films has Zulu Dawn (1979) set for Blu-ray release on 3/12.

And a heads-up for you Disney animation fans: Lady and the Tramp, Lady and the Tramp II and all three Lion King films are apparently set to go “back in the vault” in March. So if you want to get your hands on the Blu-rays, they might cost you more on the secondary market if you wait too long.

Here’s a look at the Blu-ray covert artwork for Killing Them Softly, Weinstein’s The Master (due 2/26) and revised/final Blu-ray 3D cover art for Fox’s Life of Pi (3/12)…

The big release news today is that Fox, MGM and Sony have finally officially announced Skyfall for Blu-ray and DVD release on 2/12. The DVD will include 4 Shooting Bond webisode featurettes (The Title Sequence, DB5, Women and Locations). The Blu-ray will include those, plus 10 more Shooting Bond webisode featurettes (Intro, Opening Sequence, 007, Q, Villains, Action, Music, End Sequence, M and The Future), an additional Skyfall Premiere featurette, 2 audio commentaries (one with director Sam Mendes and another with producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and production designer Dennis Gassner) and the theatrical trailer. It’s a shame that the recent Epix Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 documentary isn’t included somehow, but with any luck it will be released separately on disc at some point. It just came out on DVD in the U.K., but here in the States it seems to be a streaming only release for the time being.

Also today, CBS’ Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Three is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. No street date is yet listed, but we hear 4/30 is the likely date. We’ll post additional details as they come in.

Anchor Bay will release Down the Shore on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/9 (SRP $24.99 and $22.99). The film stars James Gandolfini and Famke Janssen.

Image Entertainment and One Village Entertainment have set BMF: The Rise and Fall of a Hip-Hop Drug Empire for DVD only release on 2/5.

Warner Home Video has set Rizzoli & Isles: The Complete Third Season for DVD release on 5/14.

And Inception Media Group has set 4 Assassins for DVD release on 2/19.

Here’s a look at the BD cover art for Skyfall, Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Three and Fox’s Life of Pi Blu-ray 3D (due 3/12)…

First up today, our own Russell Hammond has updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Videogame cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of absolutely anything – not just DVDs and BDs – that you order from Amazon after you click through to them from our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it. It make a big difference in helping us continue our work here for you guys. So thanks in advance for the support.

Now then, the first big bit of release news today is that 20th Century Fox has finally officially announced Ang Lee’s Life of Pi for Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 3/12. It appears as if the DVD will contain the movie only, plus the Digital Copy. The regular Blu-ray version will be a 2-disc set containing the DVD disc and a Blu-ray that features the film in 2D, 3 documentaries (Remarkable Vision, Epic Journey and Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright), a stills gallery (featuring artwork by Joanna Bush, Haan Lee, Dawn Masi and Alexis Rockman) and a second gallery of storyboards. The Blu-ray 3D Combo will be a 3-disc set containing the DVD, the regular Blu-ray and a Blu-ray 3D disc that offers the film in 3D, 5 deleted scenes in both 2D and 3D (Anandi’s Second Dance, Time to Grow Up, Happy Birthday, Did I Say Something Wrong? and Darkness), 2 VFX Progressions in both 2D and 3D (Tsimstum Sinking and The Wave Tank) and the film’s theatrical trailer in both 2D and 3D. The final 2D Blu-ray cover art is below.

The other big bit of release news today is that Universal has just set the Judd Apatow comedy This is 40 for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 3/22. Both versions will include the theatrical cut of the film, feature commentary with Apatow, deleted scenes, Music from Graham Parker and the Rumour and Ryan Adams, and Line-O-Rama. To this, the Blu-ray will exclusively add the unrated version of the film, additional deleted, extended and alternate scenes, 9 featurettes (The Making of This Is 40, This Is Albert Brooks (at Work), Graham Parker & The Rumour: Long Emotional Ride, Brooks-O-Rama, Biking with Barry, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Kids on the Loose 3, Fresh Air with Terry Gross and Bodies by Jason Commercial) and more than 30 minutes of additional Music with Graham Parker and the Rumour and Ryan Adams. You’ll find the BD cover artwork below.

In other release news this afternoon, Sony has set Ghost Storm for DVD only release on 3/19.

Image Entertainment has set Day of the Falcon for Blu-ray and DVD release on 2/1, followed by The Devil’s in the Details on both formats on 2/7 and Magic Journey to Africa on both formats on 4/23.

Shout! Factory has set the cult series Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot: The Complete Series for DVD only release on 3/26. Shout! and Marvel Knights Animation have also set Inhumans for DVD only release on 4/23.

Entertainment One has set Freaky Deaky, based on the novel by Elmore Leonard, for DVD only release on 2/26.

FilmWorks Entertainment has set The Wanderers for DVD only release on 4/23.

And a quick release date change: The street date for the wide BD release of Warner’s The Terminator Anthology has officially moved from 3/5 to 3/26. Adjust your plans accordingly.

We’ll leave you today with a look at the BD art for Universal’s This is 40 and Sony’s Playing for Keeps (due 3/5), as well as the 2D Blu-ray art for Fox’s Life of Pi…

In announcement news today, Lionsgate has set The Kick for DVD release on 4/2, followed by Sexy Evil Genius on DVD and Boss: Season Two on both Blu-ray and DVD on 4/9.

Warner Home Video has set To the Arctic: IMAX for Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 3/26.

Speaking of Warner, the studio is now taking pre-orders via Warner Shop.com for The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Sixth Season on Blu-ray and DVD with a street date of 9/10. They also have The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Fourth Season listed as coming on both formats on 8/27.

Also, we’ve learned from Warner today that their Fringe: The Complete Fifth and Final Season on Blu-ray and DVD (due 5/7) will include the A Farewell to Fringe featurette, video of the Fringe panel at Comic-Con 2012, audio commentary by the producers (presumably at least on the finale) and a gag reel.

In other news today, Amazon.co.uk is reporting that CBS and Paramount have set Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Best of Both Worlds for Blu-ray release on 4/29. This is the two-part episode edited together as a movie, complete with exclusive bonus content available only in this disc. Check out the cover artwork below.

Sony has set Men at Work: The Complete First Season for release on DVD only on 3/26.

Artsploitation Films has set Russian director Alexander Vartanov’s Bullet Collector for release on DVD on 2/19.

PBS and the BBC have set Masterpiece Classic: Mr. Selfridge for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/23.

And Image Entertainment will release Ghost Hunters: Season 8, Part 1 on DVD on 3/19, followed by Frankenstein Theory! on DVD on 3/26.

Finally, we’ve got a quick follow-up on Friday’s Echo Bridge/Miramax catalog BD news. The titles we mentioned are all due in stores widely on 3/26 and 5/7 in two separate release waves, but they’re going to be available as Best Buy exclusives before that time, and in fact the first wave (3/26 wide date) is now slowly starting to arrive in Best Buy locations. Just FYI.

Here’s the BD cover art for CBS’ Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Best of Both Worlds (note that this link is to the Amazon.co.uk page until officially announced here in the States), plus the BBC’s Spies of Warsaw (due 4/16) and Warner’s Terminator Anthology (3/5)…

Well… we’re closing out the week here at The Bits with another slow news day. But we do have a couple things to report announcement-wise...

Virgil Films will release A Liar’s Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman on DVD only on 2/12.

Shout! Factory has a Jackie Chan Double Feature of Police Story and Police Story 2 coming on Blu-ray on 4/16.

Shout has also announced that their Phantasm II: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray and DVD (due 3/5 – SRP $29.93 and $19.93) will include audio commentary with director/writer Don Coscarelli and actors Angus Scrimm and Reggie Banister, The Ball is Back! documentary, The Gory Days with Greg Nicotero featurette, additional behind the scenes footage (Makeup Effects and On the Set), deleted scenes, alternate takes and additional gore footage from the work print, trailers for Phantasm, Phantasm II and Phantasm III, original TV spots, 3 still galleries (Behind the Scenes, Makeup Effects and Hollywood Premiere) and a rare short film starring Rory Guy (a.k.a. Angus Scrimm) as Abraham Lincoln.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set Kill for Me for DVD only release on 2/12.

Millennium Entertainment has Spiders coming on DVD only on 2/8.

And Echo Bridge Home Entertainment will release a number of Miramax catalog titles on Blu-ray for the first time, including Down to You, Senseless, Beautiful Girls, Benefit of the Doubt, Playing by Heart, Bounty Hunters, Immortality, Music of the Heart, Marvin’s Room, American Son, The Shipping News and Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back on 3/26, and Hoax, Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball, Full Frontal, Fresh, She’s So Lovely, Nameless, Hellraiser VII: Deader, The Grifters, Heaven, Dragon Lord, Jersey Girl, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, Mother’s Boys, Best of the Best: Without Warning and Fortress for Blu-ray release on 5/7.

We’ll leave you with a look at the Blu-ray cover art for Warner’s Fringe: The Complete Fifth and Final Season (due 5/7), and final BD cover artwork for Universal’s Continuum: Season One (3/26) and Jurassic Park 3D (4/23)…

Well, it’s a bit of a slow news day today. Except of course for this: Deadline Hollywood and others are reporting that Star Trek Into Darkness director J.J. Abrams is officially signing a deal with Disney and Lucasfilm to direct Star Wars: Episode VII. Fascinating news, and of course it’s setting the geek world abuzz today online. We’ll have to see how everyone feels about this after seeing Into Darkness.

In Blu-ray and DVD news (speaking of J.J. Abrams), Warner has just confirmed that Fringe: The Complete Fifth Season will arrive on both formats on 5/7, the same day as The Complete Series which was revealed yesterday. SRP for is $49.99 for the Blu-ray and $39.98 for DVD. No word yet on extras.

Warner has also set LEGO Batman: The Movie for Blu-ray and DVD release on 5/21 (SRP $24.98 and $19.98).

Anchor Bay Entertainment has set Escapee for Blu-ray and DVD release on 4/16.

PBS has set The Reagan Presidency and NOVA scienceNOW: How Smart Can We Get? for DVD only release on 2/26.

First up this afternoon, Warner Home Video has just set Fringe: The Complete Series for Blu-ray and DVD release on 5/7 (SRP $197.50 and $159.96). This includes the recently completed fifth and final season, which we expect to be released individually around the same time (and announced soon).

Warner has also set the 5-disc The Terminator Anthology Blu-ray set for wide release on 3/5 (SRP $49.99). Until now it’s been a Best Buy-exclusive release. Note that this will not include the newly-remastered Terminator Blu-ray - that must be purchased separately from MGM/Fox.

In addition, the studio has also set a National Lampoon’s Vacation: 30th Anniversary Edition and National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation for Blu-ray release on 5/21. Vegas will include only a theatrical trailer, but Vacation will include a new A&E special Inside Story: National Lampoon’s Vacation, along with an introduction by Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid and Matty Simmons, commentary by Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron and Matty Simmons, and a trailer.

Also today, Olive Films has announced a terrific slate of deep catalog Blu-rays for February and March. Titles include Westward Ho, Ironweed, China Gate, Ruthless, McLintock, Wyoming Outlaw, Late Bloomers, A Man Betrayed, Sun Shines Bright, Lawless Nineties, Womb, Atomic Kid, Hell’s Half Acre and Devil & Miss Jones all on 3/26, A New Life, Plain Clothes, She Devil, Diary of a Chamber Maid, Monsieur Gangster, Lady for a Night, The Red Menace, Strangers in the Night and The Great Spy Chase all on 2/26, and The Running Man, Irreconcilable Differences, Julius Caesar (1970), Les Miserables (1958), Live Nude Girls, Don Giovanni, Innocent Bystanders, Highlander 2: Renegade Version, Night of the Demons, The Monster Squad and That Cold Day in the Park all on 2/19.

Sony has set Adventures in Zambezia for Blu-ray/DVD Combo and DVD release on 3/26.

Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox have set Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out for DVD only release on 3/26.

20th Century Fox has also set One Night with the King and The Marine 3: Homefront for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/5. King will include an audio commentary with, while Marine 3 will include 5 featurettes (Shipwrecked: Breaking Down the Boat, The Miz Rocks the Boat, The Miz Declassified, Casting Call: Ready to Enlist and Miz Journal).

IFC Films has set Julia Loktev’s The Loneliest Planet for DVD only release on 2/26 (SRP $24.98).

Shout! Factory has set Woochi: The Demon Slayer on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/9.

Sony will release The Mob Doctor: The Complete Series on DVD on 3/12.

Anchor Bay Entertainment will release Shadow People on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/19 (SRP $24.99 and $22.98).

Anchor Bay and The Weinstein Company have This Must Be the Place due on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/12.

Time Life has Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War coming as a 4-disc DVD set on 4/9 (SRP $39.95).

And finally today for you music fans, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release a Queen: Live at Wembley Stadium - 25th Anniversary Edition as a 2-disc DVD set on 3/12 (SRP $17.98).

Here’s a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork for all three Jurassic Park BD/DVD Combo packs announced yesterday (due on 3/26), along with Olive Films’ Julius Caesar, The Monster Squad and Highlander 2: Renegade Version…

Afternoon, folks! We’ve got some great announcement news for you today, but first our own Russell Hammond has updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork. Do check it out.

Now then, Universal has just set Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park for release on Blu-ray 3D Combo format on 4/23 (see the cover artwork below). The 3D-upgraded film arrives in theaters on 4/5. Also newly announced is Continuum: Season One on Blu-ray and DVD and new Jurassic Park 1-3 BD combo packs all due on 3/26.

Universal is also reissuing the Stallone film Nighthawks on DVD on 4/2. No sign of a Blu-ray release yet, but we’d sure love to see one.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM have set the 2012 remake of Red Dawn for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 3/5. Extras are TBA.

Warner Home Video has set Sommersby for Blu-ray release on 5/21.

Sony has re-listed their long-delayed Ishtar Blu-ray and DVD release with a tentative street date of 8/6/2013. It remains to be been seen if this holds, but you’ll find the BD cover artwork below.

Sony has also set Playing for Keeps for Blu-ray and DVD release on 3/5 (SRP $35.99 and $30.99). The studio has additionally listed more MOD DVD-R releases for release on 3/5, including Anatomy of a Murder, The Hireling, Goya in Bordeaux, Adventure in Washington, The Big Gusher, The California Trail (1933), The Line-Up, 5 Against the House, Oklahoma City Dolls, Death Goes North, Party of Five: The Complete Fourth Season and Worst-Case Scenario: The Complete First Season.

Also today, Lionsgate has set the horror film The Collection for Blu-ray and DVD release on 3/26.

Paramount and DreamWorks have set Rise of the Guardians for release on Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD on 3/12, in a variety of configurations both with and without “egg” packaging. More details soon.

CBS will release Family Ties: The Sixth Season on DVD on 4/9.

Disney has set Private Practice: The Complete Sixth Season for DVD only release on 5/7, followed by Perception: The Complete First Season on DVD only on 5/21.

Finally, here’s something cool for you classic film fans: Cohen Media Group is releasing Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Bagdad on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/19. From the press release:

“Newly restored from two 35mm negatives and incorporating the color tints and tones of the original release prints, this definitive edition of The Thief of Bagdad features silent film score maestro Carl Davis (Napoleon) conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra, performing a magnificent score that intermingles Davis’ own music with the famous Orientalia of Rimsky-Korsakov. The soundtrack is in 5.1 Dolby Digital for DVD and state-of-the-art DTS-HD Master Audio for Blu-ray.

Blu-ray and DVD extras include running audio commentary by Douglas Fairbanks biographer Jeffrey Vance and a featurette about the making of the film and its impact, including rare behind-the-scenes photographs.”

Sounds terrific – count us in!

We’ll leave you with a look at the Blu-ray cover art for Universal’s Jurassic Park 3D, Fox’s Red Dawn, Cohen’s The Thief of Bagdad, Sony’s Ishtar and Warner’s Sommersby and DreamWorks’ Rise of the Guardians. Enjoy!

First up, there’s more news regarding The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. As we reported last Thursday, word of the Blu-ray release of the film has begun to leak in Europe and in fact you can now pre-order the theatrical cut Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD versions in Germany and France. Now images of a French retail sell sheet have leaked online, showing your choice of three different Steelbook covers for the 2D version, plus word that the discs will include over two hours worth of extras, including a “making of” featurette and 10 video blogs – presumably an archive of the same video blogs that director Peter Jackson has posted online here. It also appears that the 3D version of the film may be contained on a pair of Blu-rays, while the 2D version will appear on just one disc. More here at Collider and here at Bleeding Cool. Here’s the German cover art for the BD3D and DVD versions that we posted last Thursday (originally from Amazon.de) – we’ve added a look at the German BD Steelbook as well…

By the way, the French sell sheet makes no mention of the Extended Edition release. But we do know from our coverage of Warner’s 2013 release slate event that the studio is tentatively planning on releasing it later this year. And Jackson and company have indicated in various interviews that they’re considering what deleted footage to include in longer cuts of the films.

Also today, we’ve got a follow-up on our CES 2013 coverage of 4K... and it’s definitely of interest to you Blu-ray fans. Blu-ray Disc Association president Andy Parsons has revealed that the BDA created a task force within its member companies in late 2012 to begin investigating the notion of extending the Blu-ray spec to deliver 4K movie content – presumably to make Blu-ray Hollywood’s preferred medium for distributing 4K Ultra HD content to consumers with 4K displays. (More here at TechHive.) What’s interesting about this is that while Blu-ray has disc capacities of 25GB and 50GB (via single and dual-layer media), RED revealed at CES that their 4K streamed movies will have the same data rate as Blu-ray (20Mbps) so you could presumably included a .RED file on a Blu-ray with a file size of 15 to 20GB. But .RED is obviously a proprietary format, and it’s just one of several being used to deliver films in 4K theatrically.

BDA president Andy Parsons says that the Blu-ray format is technically capable of delivering 4K content, but there are a number of factors that need to be considered. The first is the cost of doing so: Can existing production and manufacturing pipelines be retooled to accommodate 4K Blu-rays so that discs are reasonably priced, or is it just easier to stream 4K to displays? And then there’s demand: Sales of 4K displays are going to be extremely limited for the next few years until costs come down, so will demand for 4K discs justify the costs? Other questions remain as well: Would the new 4K Blu-rays work on existing players? Could at least some players be made compatible with 4K via firmware updates or would new players be required? Obviously, 4K video would either require greater compression than Blu-ray currently employs or additional layers would have to be added to the discs – or both.

Finally, there’s an even bigger issue to overcome – rampant concern over piracy in the Hollywood community. Are the studios even willing to release their best films in 4K? Think of it this way: If someone pirates a current Blu-ray, they’ve got a great high-definition copy. If someone pirates a 4K file, they’ve essentially got a duplicate of the studio master – 4K is effectively the equivalent resolution you get from a 35mm film print. That’s not an appealing proposition for any senior studio executive.

So interesting though the idea of 4K Blu-ray is, there are a lot of hurdles yet to clear. Nevertheless, we’ll keep you up to date on any new developments as we hear of them.

The Weinstein Company and Anchor Bay have officially announced the Blu-ray Combo and DVD release of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master on 2/26 (SRP $39.99 and $29.98). Extras on the Blu-ray Combo version will include the Back Beyond featurette (outtakes and additional scenes set to music), the Unguided Message short film, John Huston’s 1946 documentary on World War II veterans Let There Be Light plus trailers and teasers. You’ll find the cover artwork below.

In addition, Criterion has revealed their April Blu-ray and DVD release slate, which is set to include Lawrence Olivier’s Richard III (Cat #213 - BD and DVD - due 4/9), David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch (Cat #220 - BD and DVD - due 4/9), Teinosuke Kinugasa’s Gate of Hell (Cat #653 - BD and DVD - due 4/9), Alex Cox’s Repo Man (Cat #654 - BD and DVD - due 4/16) and a Pierre Etaix box set (Cat #655 - BD and DVD - due 4/23 – includes The Suitor, Yoyo, As Long As You’ve Got Your Health, Le Grand Amour and Land of Milk and Honey). Also coming is Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System on DVD on 4/16 (includes The Thick-Walled Room, I Will Buy You, Black River and The Inheritance). In other words, it’s yet another great batch of titles from Criterion.

Also today, our own Jeff Kleist has turned in a review of Fox’s Taken 2 on Blu-ray, so enjoy!

Here’s the BD cover art for Weinstein’s The Master and Criterion’s Naked Lunch and Repo Man…

Have a great weekend and we’ll see you back here on Tuesday morning (following Monday’s MLK Jr. Day holiday). Stay tuned!

All right, today’s post is brief but we do have a little bit of Hobbit news for you…

Amazon France and Amazon Germany have both begun taking pre-orders for the Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD release of Warner’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. This is the theatrical cut. Amazon France lists a street date of 4/17. So it seems likely that the U.S. release will A) happen around this same time frame and B) be officially announced very soon, perhaps in the next week or two if not sooner. Our industry sources still suggest that an Extended Cut version of the film is very possible later this year, but not yet 100% certain. If it does happen, expect the Extended Cut release of An Unexpected Journey sometime in October or November, as part of the build-up to the theatrical release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug on 12/13. We’ll post more official information as soon as it comes in. In the meantime, here’s a look at the German cover artwork for the Blu-ray 3D Combo and DVD versions…

Bits readers are reporting that Amazon has just pulled the Wachowskis’ Cloud Atlas from pre-order availability. They had been taking Blu-ray and DVD pre-orders for a month or so with an expected release date of 2/5. However, I should note that the studio has never officially announced the title or its street date, so technically this isn’t Warner pulling the release – it’s Amazon that jumped the gun by listing a 2/5 street date. I’m sure that 2/5 was at one point the tentative release date, but it’s clear that the studio simply hasn’t finalized its release plan yet or we’d already have seen an announcement. We’ve asked the studio what’s going on with the title and will let you know when we hear back. Unofficially, we’re hearing that the studio may have plans to return the film to theaters for a brief time. In any case, we expect WHV to make its official announcement of the title sometime in the next few weeks.

Speaking of Warner Home Video, they’re going to start releasing individual seasons of Friends on Blu-ray on 4/30, starting with the first two. Season One and Season Two each carry an SRP of $25.98.

Also, Warner and the BBC have set Alice Through the Looking Glass (1973) and Alice in Wonderland (1986) for DVD release on 3/12, presumably taking advantage of the promotional oomph of Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful which hits theatres on 3/8.

Sony has set A Dark Truth for DVD only release on 3/5, followed by The First Time and Mob Doctor: The Complete First Season on 3/12 and Angus Buchan’s Ordinary People on 3/19.

Showtime and Paramount have set The Borgias: The Second Season for Blu-ray and DVD release on 3/26. The set will include a pair of featurettes, as well as promotional materials for a number of other Showtime series.

And Disney has set Perception: The Complete First Season for DVD only release on 5/21.

Finally, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and our friends over at the Home Theater Forum are allowing you to vote on which deep catalog classic films you’d like to see delivered to Blu-ray in the months ahead. Click on the links to weigh in. Titles already expected from Fox on Blu-ray include Laura on 3/2, Panic in the Streets on 3/26, Hello, Dolly! on 4/2 and Viva Zapata! on 5/7.

The big one is that Lionsgate will release The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 on Blu-ray Combo and DVD on 3/2 (SRP $39.99 and $30.98). Extras will include audio commentary with director Bill Condon, the 7-part Forever: Filming Breaking Dawn Part 2 documentary (includes Rebirth, Renesmee, The Cottage, The Gathering, The Field, The Battle and Forever), an additional Two Movies at Once featurette and Green Day’s The Forgotten music video. Here’s the cover artwork – both versions are available for pre-order now on Amazon by clicking on the art...

Also today, 20th Century Fox has set Chasing Mavericks for Blu-ray and DVD release on 2/26. Extras will include audio commentary from director Michael Apted and writers Brandon Hooper and Jim Meenaghan, 4 deleted scenes and 4 featurettes (Surf City, Shooting Waves, Live Like Jay and Surfer Zen) plus an UltraViolet version.

And in addition to their 3/12 release of Hitchcock (just announced and covered in yesterday’s post), Fox is also releasing an Alfred Hitchcock: The Classic Collection on Blu-ray the same day that includes their previously released BD singles of Notorious, Rebecca and Spellbound.

Also today, our friends over at Kino Lorber have sent us hot new Blu-ray Disc cover art for Jean Rollin’s Zombie Lake, Jess Franco’s Oasis of the Zombies and Peter Walker’s House of Whipcord, Die Screaming Marianne, Schizo and The Comeback - all Redemption Films titles due in February - as well as Buster Keaton’s College (due 3/5). Here’s a look at some of them. All are now available for pre-order on Amazon…

The big release news today is that Universal has officially unveiled a title we’ve expected for a while now, as 2013 is the film’s 20th anniversary: Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. The Schindler’s List: 20th Anniversary Limited Edition officially streets as a Blu-ray Combo pack on 3/5 (including BD, DVD, a Digital Copy and UltraViolet). It’s been restored from the original 35mm film negative in a process supervised by Spielberg himself. Extras will include the Voices from the List documentary and the USC Shoah Foundation Story with Steven Spielberg featurette. The title is now available on Amazon and you can pre-order by clicking on the cover artwork below.

Also, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has set Hitchcock for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 3/12. Extras will include audio commentary with Sacha Gervasi and Stephen Rebello, a deleted scene, 9 featurettes (Becoming the Master: From Hopkins to Hitchcock, Obsessed with Hitchcock, Sacha Gervasi’s Behind the Scenes Cell Phone Footage, Hitchcock Cell Phone PSA, The Story, The Cast, Danny Elfman Maestro, Hitch and Alma and Remembering Hitchcock) and a theatrical trailer.

Also today, Warner Home Video has set Sparkle for Blu-ray release on 5/7 (SRP $19.98). Maverick: The Complete Second Season is coming on DVD only on 4/23 (SRP $39.98). Warner is also taking New Line’s The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection Blu-ray to retail widely on 3/5 (SRP $59.99). The set has been a Best Buy-exclusive in recent months. It includes all 7 original films in the series.

Warner and BBC Video have set Twenty Twelve: The Complete First Season for DVD only release on 1/15 (SRP $34.98).

HBO will release Hemingway & Gellhorn on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/2 (SRP $24.99 and $19.97). The was directed by Philip Kaufman and stars Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman.

Shout! Factory has set John Flynn’s Rolling Thunder (1977) for Blu-ray release on 4/9 (SRP $19.97).

Image Entertainment is going to start delivering The Dick Van Dyke Show on Blu-ray in individual seasons on 4/9. Season One will sell for $59.98.

And we’ve just gotten in the final cover artwork for Paramount’s Top Gun: Limited 3D Edition Blu-ray – you can see it below.

Here’s the BD cover artwork for Universal’s Schindler’s List, Paramount’s Top Gun: Limited 3D Edition (due 2/19) and CBS’s Star Trek: Enterprise – Season One (due 3/26), as well as Fox’s Hitchcock, Warner’s The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection and Shout! Factory’s Rolling Thunder. All are now available for pre-order on Amazon.com by clicking on the covers…

As you might expect at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, 4K was all the rage. All of the major leading flat panel display companies were showing 4K Ultra HD product at the show, including Sony, LG, Samsung, Toshiba, Vizio and others. Sizes for actual consumer-bound product ranged from 50-inch “entry level” models to huge displays with over 80-plus-inch diagonals. Naturally, they all look fantastic – just as they did at last year’s CES. The catch, of course, is that the market for these displays is really only the super enthusiast – those very high-end consumers willing to pay prices ranging up to well over $20,000 for such a device. All of the manufacturers claimed that their models will be “more affordable than expected,” but few were willing to quote specific price ranges. LG did indicate that they intend to have an 84-inch OLED 4K set available in 2013 for around $12,000, but that’s still well outside the price range for all but the most affluent early adopters.

Of course, the problem with 4K Ultra HD isn’t just that the displays themselves will remain exorbitantly expensive for the next few years at least – there’s also the problem of having native 4K video content to view on them. Sony has pledged to begin offering 4K film titles for their 4K display customers starting this summer, via their own 4K video distribution service. The company hasn’t specified exactly how this service will work, but it would seem likely that some kind of special Internet-connected set-top box will be involved, employing a secure digital streaming system to deliver content from Sony Pictures servers. There was unofficial chatter at the show that perhaps the box might include a Blu-ray drive – so if you have the Sony Blu-ray version of a particular title for example, the disc itself would unlock a 4K stream delivered to the box digitally. Watch for Sony to make official announcements in the next few months.

Don’t look for 4K broadcasting to begin anytime soon either – at least in the States (though they are soon to begin in Japan and Korea). In the early days of HDTV, you’d occasionally see limited “test” broadcasts, usually live sporting events like the Super Bowl. But while local terrestrial demo transmissions are already happening on a limited basis (including at CES this year), it’s likely to be at least a year, perhaps two, before more widespread broadcasts begin in the United States, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has yet to approve a 4K broadcast standard. Realistically, industry experts we’ve checked with don’t expect 4K transmission to become common until at 2016 or 2017.

However, one company that seems to be making efforts to address the 4K content problem head on (and actually had demonstration hardware on display at CES) is RED – which already specializes in professional 4K camera and hard drive systems for theatrical film production and exhibition. They were showing their new REDRAY playback device at CES, which looks for all the world like a typical DVR. It was initially meant to be a full 4K playback device for use by independent filmmakers, but RED is gearing up to market the device to high-end home theater consumers as well. Keep in mind, this is not a disc-based system nor is it a format unto itself – it’s simply a device that plays 4K .RED format digital files in both 2D and 3D. It connects to the display via a standard HDMI 1.4 cable and purports to deliver 4K content at less than the average data rate of Blu-ray. RED claims to be working with “all the big cinema libraries” in order to have 4K movie content to deliver. And here’s the clincher: The player will set you back less than $1500. Let’s face it – if you’re already willing to spend $10K and up for a 4K display, what’s another grand to watch content? The player itself was on display and working in the Toshiba booth at the show. You can see what the unit looks like in the picture below – click here for RED’s webpage with full specs and information on this device, here for a page on the RED site with an Engadget video interview on the product and here for arstechnica’s report on the device.

To help support sales of Sony’s 4K Ultra HD displays in the meantime, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced a new line of “Mastered in 4K” Blu-ray titles. These aren’t actual 4K titles, but are essentially the Blu-ray 1080p equivalent of their previous “Superbit” DVDs. Sony says all of their “Mastered in 4K” titles will be sourced from 4K studio masters and will offer higher bitrates, which should allow for a somewhat improved picture when upconverted to 4K by the display. Planned titles will include The Amazing Spider-Man, Total Recall, The Karate Kid, Battle: Los Angeles and The Other Guys – part of an initial wave of ten titles planned to be available this Spring. It’s hard to see how these will really stand out from existing Blu-rays, but who knows – until Sony figures out a better way to deliver 4K content to their displays one supposes this makes a certain amount of sense.

Speaking of HD movie content, the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) announced a new industry initiative at CES to offer free UltraViolet movies (specifically called an “UltraViolet Movie Starter Pack”) when you buy a new UV-compatible device – either a smart TV or Blu-ray player from LG, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba or Vizio. This is apparently the first digital cross-promotional effort of its kind. You’ll get UV redemption codes for ten movies when you purchase an HDTV and five when you purchase a BD player. These can be redeemed from participating movie delivery services, including VUDU, Nook Video, Flixster and Best Buy’s CinemaNow. Combined with the international expansion of UV into countries like Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany and Ireland in 2013, this effort is designed to help greatly expand UV’s registered customer base beyond the nine million households already participating. Studios involved include Warner Home Video, Paramount Home Media Distribution, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Lionsgate and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Speaking of the DEG, the group also released its annual statistics report on the strength of the home video industry as of the end of 2012. Overall U.S. consumer spending on packaged media (in other words, physical discs) was down about 5.5% from 2011, but digital video on demand (VOD) was up 28.5% and total electronic sell through (EST) was up 35%. With losses in all other areas factored in (including declining physical media rentals) total U.S. consumer spending on home entertainment was up about .5% for the year with a total of about $18 billion. Highlights from the DEG’s report include:

Consumers also increasingly purchased their entertainment via EST. Consumer spending on EST climbed 35% compared to 2011. Total digital distribution spending, EST and VOD combined, grew 28% for the same period. Total digital now accounts for nearly 30% of the domestic home video market, up from 19% compared to 2011.

Consumers embraced UltraViolet as a substantial number of new titles became available. To date, more than nine million UltraViolet accounts have been created, more than double the number as of June 2012, and 8,500+ UltraViolet-enabled titles are now available from nine major content providers: Anchor Bay Entertainment, BBC, DreamWorks Animation, Lionsgate, Paramount Home Media Distribution, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Consumers are now making Blu-ray Disc players integral to their consumer home entertainment experience. The number of Blu-ray homes continues to steadily grow, climbing 7% for the year (including BD set-tops, PS3s and HTiBs.) Total household penetration of all Blu-ray compatible devices now stands at close to 51 million U.S. homes according to numbers compiled by the DEG with input from retail tracking sources.

[Editor’s Note: That’s about 45% of the total U.S. TV household market which stands at approximately 114.2 million.]

Further, consumers purchased more than 39 million HDTVs in 2012. HDTV penetration is now at more than 108.4 million U.S. households according to numbers compiled by the DEG with input from retail tracking sources.

So that’s the status of the home video industry from the DEG. Now let’s take a look at the latest in glasses-free 3D from CES...

On the 3D display front, there were lots of newly-announced, 3D capable displays on hand at CES, with a similar mix of active and passive formats as last year. The truly interesting news to report was that there have been significant advances in autostereoscopic displays – also known as “3D without the glasses.” It’s always been my feeling that 3D isn’t really going to move beyond a niche market in the home until the glasses are no longer required to experience a truly home theater reference-quality 3D effect and the price for that capability is mass market friendly. Of course, that day is still a few years away… but it does appears to be getting a lot closer. A number of demonstrations were on hand at the show this year, but two of them really stood out.

Vizio had a 55-inch demonstration on hand in their booth at CES which was a full 4K display, allowing the actual 3D experience to achieve a 1080p level of quality without glasses. The set boasts 9 sweets spots for viewing the 3D effect (thanks to a lenticular lens built into the front of the display) and those sweet spots were wider than those seen in the past, which makes the display more practical for a family viewing experience. And when you’re not standing or sitting in a sweet spot, rather than seeing a blurry double image as in past demonstrations the 3D effect simply flattens out to 2D. Vizio says they’re already working on an improved version with 28 sweet spots. Of course, no prices or availability dates were given. Still, it’s a marked improvement from such displays seen last year at CES. Here’s a look at Vizio’s display via YouTube and CNet:

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Not to be outdone, Stream TV Networks had their own 4K autostereoscopic display demonstration on and here’s the surprise – there were no sweet spots. Instead the full 3D effect was viewable from any viewing position! Again, that was thanks to a special lens material built into the front of the display screen, but it apparently wasn’t a lenticular-type system – the reps on hand on the booth wouldn’t say how it worked. SlashGear took some video of this display which you can see below via YouTube. If you listen during the clip you can hear the rep acknowledge that there’s “an optical structure” in front of the screen (i.e. a lens of some sort) but it’s some kind of new technology that they’ve developed and are keeping a trade secret. You can’t see the 3D effect here obviously, but it was impressive in person…

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Again, don’t expect these displays to arrive in the home in 2013 or even 2014, but the point is that autostereoscopic display technology is making very strong advances… and frankly much more quickly than I expected.

While we’re talking 3D, Lionsgate has just announced (at CES) a new partnership with Samsung to begin converting some of the studio’s popular theatrical titles to 3D for distribution on disc and streaming. Initial titles include Gamer, Crank, Descent and Bangkok Dangerous.

Also at CES, Netflix said its recent “Open Connect” delivery network – which enables ISPs to receive (at no cost to them) higher quality Netflix video content directly through an interconnection point of the ISP’s choosing – is gaining widespread acceptance. To sweeten the deal, Netflix is now offering very high-quality 1080p video (they call it “Super HD”) and even 3D content from select Netflix partner studios and 3Net Studios. Netflix will begin offering 3D content internationally as well based on demand.

Finally, the DEG announced its usual slate of home entertainment industry awards at CES. Categories and winners include:

DEG 2012 Retailer of the Year for Hardware, Software and Digital – Walmart

Evening, folks! Just wanted to check in quickly here to let you know that I’m hard at work on finishing up our CES 2013 coverage and I expect to have it up soon – by tomorrow afternoon with any luck. But as it happens I’m also working my way through a pretty good head cold – or perhaps I should say that a pretty good head cold is working its way through me – and so it’s taking a little longer than I expected to get it all finished. Hey… at least it’s not bird flu or zombie plague, right?

With this year’s Consumer Electronics Show now in full swing in Las Vegas, savvy early adopters and home entertainment consumers are getting their first look at lots of hot new gadgets coming in 2013. As usual, among these offerings are new Blu-ray player models from all the major CE companies. But whereas in past years these players have introduced significant new capabilities or features, this year’s offerings tend to focus on dramatic styling, smaller footprints and incremental improvements in speed, connectivity and A/V quality, including 4K “upscaling” and built-in 2D to 3D conversion.

Sony has planned four new models for 2013, including the BDP-S5100, the BDP-S4100, the BDP-S3100 and the BDP-S1100. All feature sharply angled lines, integration with the Sony Entertainment Network, Quick Start disc loading, access to Netflix, LOVEFiLM and Internet browsing, and support for TV SideView which allows the devices to be controlled by an Android or Apple iOS app. The BDP-S5100 and BDP-S3100 will include built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, while the other two are Wi-Fi ready. The BDP-S5100 is also Blu-ray 3D compatible and will offer built-in 2D to 3D conversation. Sony’s new players are expected to start arriving on store shelves next month.

Panasonic also has four new Blu-ray models on the way for 2013, available starting in February. Again, the styling tends towards the angular. All will feature Panasonic’s VIERA Connect integration. Both the DMP-BDT330 and DMP-BDT230 will be Blu-ray 3D compatible, have built-in Wi-Fi and offer Display Mirroring which allows them to display media content from select Android devices, including tablets and smartphones. The flagship model, DMP-BDT330, will also offer 4K upscaling for use with the company’s new lineup of 4K TVs. Both of the lower-end models – DMP-BD89 and DMP-BD79 – are compatible with regular 2D Blu-ray titles only, though the DMP-BD89 does include built-in Wi-Fi.

Samsung’s primary BD offering at CES is a new flagship model, the BD-F7500 Smart Blu-ray player, which was awarded a 2013 CES Innovation Award at the show. It offers a dual-core processor and Samsung’s Smart TV compatibility, including Smart Hub and AllShare. It’s also designed to upscale SD and HD content into simulated 4K for viewing on the company’s announced line of 4K displays.

Two of LG’s three new Blu-ray player offerings include a rather surprising new feature – the ability to listen to your movies in a “private sound mode” via Bluetooth through a smartphone app. In addition, the BD730 offers 4K upscaling, Smart TV integration, Blu-ray 3D compatibility and 2D to 3D conversion. The mid-range BP530 is also a Blu-ray 3D compatible model and features Smart TV integration. The BDP330 is Samsung’s entry-level model, though interestingly all three players feature built-in Wi-Fi.

Toshiba seems to have shifted their focus to media streaming with this year’s offerings at CES, which perhaps isn’t surprising as they’ve never been particularly enthusiastic BD format supporters. They have four new models on display at the show, all of which are being billed as “Media Boxes” that just happen to feature Blu-ray playback as well. The line-up includes the BDX6400, BDX5400, BDX3400 and BDX2400, all of which have “server access” designed to allow the units to drive digital media content streaming. The 6400, 5400 and 3400 also have built-in Wi-Fi and Toshiba Miracast support. In addition, the 6400 and 5400 are Blu-ray 3D compatible, while the BDX6400 alone features built-in 4K upscaling.

Pioneer’s offerings at CES this year are focused in other areas than Blu-ray, including in-dash car navigation and AppRadio. They do have one fairly recent addition to their Blu-ray line however – the BDP-150. It features Blu-ray 3D compatibility, fast disc loading and Wi-Fi ready connectivity to online streaming movie content services. It debuted in Q4 of 2012 and is now available for $149.

Finally, enthusiast-favorite OPPO Digital has launched their latest entries in the BD player market – the BDP-103 and the BDP-105. Both are Blu-ray 3D compatible, will convert 2D content to 3D and will upscale native HD content to 4K. For audio fans, both models continue to offer high-resolution SACD and DVD-Audio disc compatibility. Both include dual HDMI inputs as well, allowing you to connect external set-top boxes and network streaming players. To all of this, the BDP-105 adds a number of additional refinements specifically meant to enhance the experience of audiophiles, including more rugged construction and engineering, reference-quality Audio DACs, a toroidal power supply and even a dedicated stereo output with XLR balanced connectors. Both models are now available. The BDP-103 sells for $499 while the audiophile BDP-105 will set you back a whopping $1,199.

I’ll be back tomorrow to wrap-up our CES 2013 coverage with some thoughts on the newly-announced 4K Ultra HD displays, developments in autostereoscopic 3D and all the latest home video industry sales stats from 2012 via the DEG. Stay tuned!

It’s official: CBS has just announced (via Star Trek.com) the Blu-ray release of a title we suggested was in the works for HD several months ago. Star Trek: Enterprise will officially arrive on Blu-ray as a 6-disc set on 3/26 (SRP $130 – but you can reasonably expect Amazon to have it available for around the same price as the TNG BD sets). All of the extras from the previous DVD release will carry over, and you’ll get significant new content as well including an all-new, multi-part retrospective documentary called To Boldly Go: Launching Enterprise. It’s some 19 hours of content in all. From the official press release, the documentary:

“...gives fans an inside look at the development and production of the series and is exclusive to this collection. The documentary features interviews with the show’s cast and crew, some of which were shot as recently as December 2012, as well as archival footage and behind-the-scenes clips. The documentary includes:

Part One: Countdown - Chronicles the challenges faced by the producers and creative staff as they attempt to launch a new chapter in the Star Trek saga by making the then-radical decision to create a prequel to the beloved original series. Features all new interviews with key personnel including creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, production designer Herman Zimmerman, technical consultants Michael and Denise Okuda, writers Andre Bormanis, Phyllis Strong and more.

Part Two: Boarding the NX-01 - Follows the team as they begin the casting process and production on the series 2-hour pilot Broken Bow. Features all-new interviews with key cast and crew including series pilot director James L. Conway and series leads Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer), Connor Trinneer (Trip Tucker), and Dominic Keating (Malcolm Reed).

Part Three: First Flight - Charts the course for the rest of the series’ first season including all-new interviews with key production and post-production personnel.

The six-disc set also includes a candid conversation with the series’ creators, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, offering a glimpse into their creative process. In addition, the Blu-ray features brand new commentaries on select episodes from the season, along with a host of previously released special features such as deleted scenes and outtakes.”

All right, this is going to be a busy week. As most of you know, the annual Consumer Electronics Show has kicked off in Las Vegas, so there should be some interesting announcements related to new Blu-ray players, HD, 3D and 4K displays. We’ll check in off and on all week with the latest news and announcements.

Meanwhile, there are a couple of big new title announcements to report today…

Summit and Lionsgate have just revealed plans to release The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Extended Edition on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on 3/2 (SRP $29.99 and $22.98 for the disc formats). Director Bill Condon has restored some 8 minutes of new and extended scenes back into the theatrical cut of the film (which will also be included) for this release. You’ll also get optional audio commentary by Condon. You’ll get a look at the BD cover artwork below.

Also, Universal has set The Man with the Iron Fists: Unrated Extended Edition for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 2/12. Extras are TBA.

Sony has set The First Time and Mob Doctor: The Complete First Season for DVD only release on 3/12, followed by Angus Buchan’s Ordinary People on DVD only on 3/19.

Nickelodeon and Paramount have set Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise of the Turtles for DVD only release on 2/26.

And Image will release All Superheroes Must Die on BD and DVD on 1/29.

Now then… Amazon.com is now taking pre-orders for P.T. Anderson’s The Master and Silver Livings Playbook, both Weinstein Company titles. SRP for each is $39.99. Click the links to pre-order.

Now then… we’ve got an update for you on the audio problems with Sony’s Total Recall Blu-ray Disc. As I reported last we asked the studio for an update on the nature of the issue and what their plans were to address it. We’ve now gotten two responses from them. The first is a statement and information from the technical team on how to get around the issue:

“The complex branching on initial shipments of the Blu-ray Disc for Total Recall has caused a few unexpected dropouts in the lossless audio streams during disc play only on select player/receiver combinations. This issue only occurs if the lossless audio is decoded through an audio receiver or home theater system. If the Blu-ray player is connected directly to the TV, or if the lossless audio is set to decode directly through the Blu-ray player, there should be no issue.

SPHE is working with manufacturers on a possible firmware upgrade solution meanwhile, the playback in the affected player combinations can be resolved through a simple fix by changing the player’s audio settings to decode directly through the Blu-ray player by changing the settings as outlined below.”

As you can imagine, those are the specific models of player that seem to be encountering issues. Now then… at the same time we’ve also heard back from SPHE Customer Support through e-mail inquiries (to: Consumer@SPHECustomerSupport.Sony.com ) by a number of readers. Here’s what they say:

“Sony is reprinting this title without the defects. We will ship you a replacement when we receive the new disks. In order to send you a replacement we do ask that you send us your copy. First we do need the following information:

What is the UPC # under the barcode of the movie case?

Your Name?

Mailing address (No PO Boxes)?

Once we receive this information, we will send you information on how to return your disk to us.

So there you go: Sony is attacking the problem from both ends by trying to work with manufacturers to update firmware and by manufacturing replacement discs. If you’d rather not wait for firmware updates, free to use the SPHE contact information above to arrange your own replacement copy.

Now then… we’ll leave you with at look at the BD cover artwork for Summit and Lionsgate’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Extended Edition, Universal’s The Man with the Iron Fists and Fox’s How Green Was My Valley (due 1/15)…

We’re closing out the week today with a couple more interesting pieces of announcement news…

First of all, it’s not already unknown, but we have official details on Shout! Factory’s upcoming Blu-ray Disc release of Lifeforce and the Hammer Films classic The Vampire Lovers. Both are expected on 4/30. The Lifeforce: Collector’s Edition BD/DVD Combo (SRP $29.93) will include both the Theatrical and International versions (Theatrical on the Blu-ray only), new audio commentary with director Tobe Hooper, a new retrospective with the cast and crew (including Steve Railsback, Hooper and others), the original Making of Lifeforce featurette, the original theatrical trailer, a TV spot, a still gallery and more TBA. Meanwhile, The Vampire Lovers (SRP $19.97) will include audio commentary with director Roy Ward Baker, writer Tudor Gates and star Ingrid Pitt, excerpts from the novella Carmilla (which inspired the film) read by Pitt, new interviews with actress Madeline Smith and Hammer Films scholars, the original theatrical trailer and a vintage radio spot.

Also today, Disney has formally set Monsters, Inc. 3D for Blu-ray 3D Combo release on 2/19 – again no surprise but it’s no official. SRP is $49.99 for a 5-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition that includes a Blu-ray 3D version, 2 Blu-ray discs, a DVD and a Digital Copy. In addition, the previous BD extras, the set will a preview for the new Disney/Pixar release Monsters University.

And here’s something we think is pretty darned exciting: As some of you may know, our very own Mark A. Altman – when he’s got writing columns for The Bits – is also a TV producer. His series Femme Fatales recently finished its second season on Cinemax and Entertainment One has just announced the first for DVD release! Femme Fatales: The Complete First Season will arrive on DVD only on 1/29 (SRP $29.98). The 3-disc set will include all 12 episodes along with audio commentary on every episode with the stars and creators, deleted and alternate scenes, 4 featurettes (Creating Femme Fatales, Shooting Femme Fatales: The Making of Season One, Making Love: Anatomy of a Sex Scene and San Diego Comic Con 2011 Panel), a blooper reel, isolated music tracks and a special B&W director's cut of the episode The White Flower with audio commentary! Congrats to Mark and to our longtime friend Robert Meyer Burnett, both of whom have directed episodes of the series – well done guys! Looking forward to seeing the discs.

Finally, we’ve learned from industry sources that the audio issue on Sony’s Total Recall Blu-ray is likely a problem with the discs. We’re waiting to hear back from the studio on the matter directly and will let you know when we do.

Here’s a look at the Blu-ray cover art for Shout!’s Lifeforce and The Vampire Lovers, as well as DVD art for E-One’s Femme Fatales…

All right, we’re back with our first post of the new year featuring a quick release news update…

First, Universal has set Anna Karenina for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 2/19. Extras on both versions will include deleted scenes, audio commentary with director Joe Wright and 6 featurettes (Anna Karenina: An Epic Story About Love, Adapting Tolstoy, Keira as Anna, On the Set with Director Joe Wright, Dressing Anna and Anna Karenina: Time-Lapse Photography), along with the usual interactive bells and whistles.

Paramount has officially set Flight for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 2/5. Extras will include 4 featurettes (Origins of Flight, The Making of Flight, Anatomy of a Plane Crash and Q&A Highlights).

Paramount and Nickelodeon will also release Fun Size on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/19.

Disney has officially set Wreck-It Ralph for 4-disc Blu-ray 3D Combo, 2-disc Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 3/5. You’ll also be able to watch the film in HD streaming and HD3D streaming starting on 2/12. Extras will include deleted and alternate scenes, the Paperman animated short, the Bit by Bit: Creating the Worlds of Wreck-It Ralph featurette and various video game commercials (for Fix It Felix Jr., Sugar Rush, Hero’s Duty and Fix It Felix Hammer). The Blu-rays will also include an exclusive Disney Intermission: The Gamer’s Guide to Wreck-It-Ralph interactive viewing mode.

Retail sources also tell us that Disney is planning on releasing The Little Mermaid as a 2D and 3D Diamond Edition on Blu-ray sometime late this summer, following a planned theatrical re-issue in 3D.

Also, Sony has announced another round of MOD DVD-R releases due on 2/5 (SRP $20.95 each) including Blue Moon, The Spanish Prisoner, Five Golden Hours, Ambush at Tomahawk Gap, The Bamboo Prison, Matter of Wife… and Death, Apache Ambush, The Brigand, Ghost of the China Sea, Target Hong Kong, There’s Always a Woman, Re-Modeled: The Complete First Season and Harvard Park.

Magnolia has set the Danish film Royal Affair for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/26.

And Criterion has begun teasing its 2013 Blu-ray and DVD release slate by releasing a drawing with clues to upcoming titles. Among the possible suspects include James Marsh’s Man on Wire, Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last!, David Lynch’s Eraserhead, Guillermo del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone, Mike Leigh’s Life is Sweet, Teinosuke Kinugasa’s Gate of Hell, Gabriel Axel’s Babette’s Feast, Delmer Daves’ 3:10 to Yuma and possibly David Cronenberg’s Scanners. I’d sure like to see the Zatoichi films and Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou in the mix for 2013 too. Fingers crossed.

And here at the site today, our own Russell Hammond has updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking to them through our links goes to help support our work here at the site and we surely do appreciate it!